It’s a long one from Noah Rothman headlined “The media ignoring the whiff of desperation emanating from Democrats,” and I promise it’s worth your time. Moving forward — oh, how I’ve come to loathe that phrase — this bit might be the most instructive:
In South Dakota, Democrats have begun to sink money into a three-way race in which former Republican-turned-“independent” Sen. Larry Pressler has surged over the Democratic senatorial nominee, Rick Weiland. Following the news that Democrats were going to contest the race in South Dakota, Pressler began campaigning for Democratic support. He has claimed he would be a “friend” to Obama in the Senate and is an avowed supporter of the Affordable Care Act. Reports indicate that Pressler has been courted by Beltway Democrats and can be counted on to caucus with the majority party if he were to win in November.
“The Kansas Senate race is also instructive here,” Hemingway wrote. “Republican senator Pat Roberts is fending off a challenge from “Independent” Greg Orman. Orman previously ran against Roberts as a Democrat in 2008, and in his current race he’s hired Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee staffers to help run his campaign. He’s pro-choice and says he’d support the Senate’s 2013 immigration bill.”
“But Orman’s not running as a Democrat, because, again, the Democratic brand is toxic,” Hemingway added.
The GOP brand turned bad in 2005-06, and has been toxic since the 2007-08 meltdown. This was a direct result of “compassionate conservative” Republicans turning the party against its own ideals. The Democrats then destroyed their own brand, which is actually still an ongoing process, by living up to their ideals.
If the GOP wants to detoxify, they first need to understand those last two sentences.
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